Evenfall
by half agony and hope
Summary: "Then his lips were on hers—and it was a blissful piece of heaven surrounded by hell, but despite this, she let a sob escape her lips into his kiss. 'I love you,' he whispered, and he was wrenched away from her grasp. And then she was falling, falling—his voice screaming out for her, but there was nothing but black." Third in the Eventide trilogy.


**AN: Wow. I am astounded at the response to _Irrevocably_. I was particularly nervous about that story - I almost didn't post it, but I'm so glad I did! And I'm so honored that many of you liked it. Thanks for all your wonderfully kind words. I'm really behind on replying to reviews, but I hope to get to that soon.**

 **This is the last installment of the _Eventide_ series. It would definitely help to read the first two before reading this one (or you might not understand certain references). Without further ado, here it is, and I hope you like it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.**

* * *

Evenfall

(noun): the onset of evening; dusk

A warm pressure settled across her abdomen, and Lisbon rolled over, smiling slightly. She hummed contentedly, and Jane pulled her closer to him, pushing the sheets off of their upper bodies.

He dropped a kiss to her lips before moving downwards to her stomach, to where a small but noticeable bump had appeared. He spoke in a soft voice, and his lips touched her bare skin.

"Good morning, little one," he said, and Lisbon breathed in sharply. "We are one day closer to meeting you."

" _Jane_ ," she whispered, and he pressed his lips to her stomach. A second later, those same lips pressed against her own.

"Good morning to you, too," he murmured, and she grinned.

He grabbed her hands and put them on his face so that she could feel his answering smile.

"How do you always know exactly what to do?" she asked. "It's like you know before I do what smells will make me sick or what foods my stomach feels like it can handle."

"Well," he said. "Mostly I know you. But I've also done this before, so that certainly helps."

Lisbon shook her head. "It's more than that. It just feels like you have a sixth sense or something when it comes to having children."

"I wasn't a fake psychic for nothing," Jane quipped, and she laughed.

Silence echoed around them after her laugh died away, and she listened to his breathing—calm and steady, just like his heartbeat underneath her hand.

"Is today going to be difficult for you?" she asked suddenly.

One of her hands remained on his face, and she felt his brow furrow. "Why would today be difficult?" he asked.

"We're going to find out the sex today," she whispered. "Would it be more difficult for you if it's a girl?"

"Ah," he said, understanding. It took him awhile to answer her. "I don't think so," he said finally. "I think it'll be a tiny bit bittersweet either way because Charlotte will never be able to meet her little sibling. But mostly I'm just excited."

"You are?" she asked. "Really?" Her hand went to cover her swollen abdomen, and a second later she felt his fingers come to cover her own.

"Really," he said. "Do you have a preference? I know you said before that you didn't, but I also know you lied." The smile in his voice was obvious.

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously I'll be thrilled for either," said Lisbon. "But for some reason, I just have this image in my head of you holding a baby girl. I don't know. I can just picture you wrapped around her finger the moment you lay eyes on her."

"I like that picture," said Jane softly. "It'll happen with you, too, you know. The moment you lay eyes on her—you'll be hopelessly in love."

"Actually, it won't," pointed out Lisbon gently. "At least not the moment I look at her."

Sometimes it was difficult to keep the darkness at bay, and now was definitely one of those times. Jane took a deep breath and then leaned over to kiss her eyelids, one after the other.

"Don't give up hope, Lisbon," he said. "You never know what will happen."

"It's been months, Jane," she said. "I'm trying to be realistic."

"I know, love. I know. But still, don't give up hope. Your vision will come back. I know it will."

"You can't know that."

"I'm a psychic, remember? I'm more than qualified to predict the future."

For a second, the darkness dissipated.

She laughed again.

"Fake psychic," she corrected him. "You're a fake psychic, Jane."

"Meh," he said, leaning over to kiss her again. "Semantics, really."

* * *

The doctor closed the door behind her after handing them a screenshot of the ultrasound, leaving Jane and Lisbon behind in the exam room.

"What does she look like, Jane?" Lisbon asked.

Jane squeezed her hand and kissed her forehead, and she pictured him looking at the ultrasound. He handed the picture to her, guiding it into her hand. Her fingers brushed against it.

"She's going to be beautiful," he said. "Just like her mother."

* * *

"A girl?" Van Pelt said eagerly. "Oh, how wonderful!"

"She'll be gorgeous," said Rigsby.

"And formidable," added Cho.

Lisbon smiled. "Thanks guys."

The team was gathered in her kitchen, sitting at her table and fawning over the new ultrasound picture while Jane made them dinner.

"Oh, Lisbon, you are going to have the cutest baby!" Van Pelt continued. "Just imagine…"

Lisbon smiled again. It wasn't difficult to imagine, especially considering that Jane had added fifty percent of the gene pool.

"Do you think she'll take after Jane or you?" asked Van Pelt.

"God help us," said Rigsby. "The last thing we need is another Jane."

Lisbon looked over to where she knew Jane was stirring noodles for pasta. She shot him a grin.

"Oh, just think!" said Van Pelt. "A little girl with Lisbon's eyes and Jane's smile! You'd be a goner, Wayne."

There was a knock at the door, and Cho offered to go answer it. Van Pelt continued to babble excitedly about the baby, and Lisbon nodded along, feeling truly happy for the first time in months.

A few minutes later, however, Cho had not yet returned, and the atmosphere shifted, becoming almost chilly. Lisbon stood up, anxious.

"Jane?" she said.

He was at her side in a second, his fingers touching her own faintly.

"Cho?" said Jane forcefully, and a set of hurried footsteps announced his return to the kitchen.

"They have a warrant," he said tersely.

Jane slid his arm around Lisbon's waist. "Who does? For what?" he asked.

"Sac PD has a warrant for your arrest, Jane," said Cho.

" _What?_ " breathed Lisbon, and instinctively she put a hand over her swollen stomach.

"They want to arrest Jane. Wouldn't even tell me the charges, so I suspect they're bogus. I told them I didn't think you were here, but they'll just come back with a warrant to search the place."

" _Oh my god_ ," said Lisbon, turning to Jane, who put his other arm around her. She turned her head toward the sound of Cho's voice. "Did they leave?"

"It doesn't look like they're going to. My guess would be that they're going to call in a request for the search warrant. If they get confirmation that it's on its way, they'll just come in."

There was a crash as someone—Lisbon guessed Rigsby—stood up and their chair fell over. "They can't arrest him without reason," he said forcefully.

"If they're going to try, we need to get him out of here. Lisbon, too," said Van Pelt.

And then Jane started to shake.

Out of everything, this scared Lisbon most of all.

"It's him," Jane said softly, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. "He's dying—he's run out of time. This is his last move."

" _Red John?_ " asked Lisbon. "Damn it, we need to get out of here. If Jane gets put into police custody and Red John's involved, we might not be able to get him out."

"I don't think we can, Lisbon," said Jane helplessly, and her heart broke. "You only have one entrance to your condo, and it's very likely that Red John's men are outside."

"But you all have your weapons, right?" asked Lisbon, squeezing her eyelids together and trying not to cry. "Even if I'm on temporary leave, you're still CBI agents—stop them from taking him!"

No one answered her, and suddenly she was horribly, terribly aware of what they were all thinking.

Neither Cho, Rigsby, or Van Pelt were willing to risk drawing their weapons—were willing to risk drawing return fire—when Lisbon was blind.

And pregnant.

And Jane certainly wouldn't let them even if they _were_ willing to risk it.

"You're just going to let them arrest you?" she asked, and her heart shattered all over again.

"What choice do I have?" he said weakly, his voice breaking on the last word. "Lisbon, I have to keep you—the both of you—safe. _I have to_."

There was a bang, and Lisbon jumped as the sound of heavy footsteps echoed around them. Then Jane was framing her face in his hands, and his lips were on hers—and it was a blissful piece of heaven surrounded by hell, but despite this, she let a sob escape her lips into his kiss.

"I love you," he whispered, and he was wrenched away from her grasp. And then she was falling, _falling_ —his voice screaming out for her, but there was nothing but black.

* * *

She woke an hour later, a blinding pain at the back of her head. She opened her eyes and blinked twice.

She blinked again.

Instead of pitch black, for the first time in months she saw shades of color.

Everything was blurry, but she could _see_.

She sat up too quickly and was again reminded of the intense pain, but she eagerly looked around. She was in her bed, her sheets arranged messily around her.

Lisbon touched a hand to her stomach, and she looked down, amazed.

"Oh my god," she said, caressing the small bump, fascinated by the way her swollen belly stretched the fabric of her emerald shirt. " _Oh my god_."

She began to cry.

Then she thought of Jane, and she only cried harder.

"Lisbon?" asked a voice from the doorway. She looked up to encounter a mass of fiery red hair. "Are you alright?"

"Get me the ultrasound," said Lisbon without preamble, and Van Pelt rushed away only to return a minute later with Rigsby and Cho on her heels. Lisbon held out her hand for the picture.

"Can you—?" asked Rigsby, but Van Pelt silenced him with a look.

Lisbon traced the blurry outline of her daughter then held the picture to her chest. She stared directly at her team and wiped her eyes for the final time.

"Any news?"

She could barely make out Rigsby's fuzzy outline, but she knew he was gaping at her. Likewise, she guessed Van Pelt and Cho had similar expressions of surprise on their faces. Cho pulled himself together first.

"Jane must have called me before they stormed the condo," said Cho, "because we were able to listen to part of the conversation he had with the 'cops' before they discovered the phone and we lost the signal."

"Did you get a trace?"

"Didn't need one," said Rigsby. "Jane was keeping us informed of where the squad car was going—you know, talking about the gas station they had just passed, stuff like that."

"We tracked his route for about twenty minutes before they must have gotten out of the car," said Van Pelt. "That's when they found the phone."

Lisbon looked at Cho, who was staring earnestly down at her. "What was the last thing he said?" she asked.

"That he loved you," said Cho softly. "And…" his brow furrowed in confusion. "That he smelled lilacs."

"Which is stupid," said Rigsby. "They're not even blooming this time of year."

Lisbon pushed back the sheets and stood up hurriedly. She walked past her team, her pace brisk, heading for the bedroom door for the first time in months without needing something to guide her.

"I know where he is," she said, and her voice was far more even and sure than she felt.

* * *

The sun had set long before, and the park was nearly empty.

There were four very obvious exceptions, however. Lisbon watched them as her team checked their weapons and hid behind the lilac bushes which bordered the park.

"Are those the cops that arrested him?" asked Lisbon.

Cho glanced over at her. "Yep," he said. "And Red John's to the side—we got a look at him on the surveillance feed from Jane's house a few months ago. Same limp. It's him."

"Why is Jane still alive?" asked Rigsby. "They've had him for over two hours now."

"Red John will have wanted to speak with him," said Lisbon. "In person—before he dies."

"Well," said Van Pelt, raising her weapon, "let's not give them any more time, all right?"

"We'll let you know when you can head over," said Cho, and she nodded.

"You and the little one stay well clear," said Rigsby.

Lisbon ducked further behind the lilac bushes and watched, bereft, as her team moved forward without her.

Perhaps it was because she was still nearly blind, but her team soon disappeared from her sight and into the night.

Seventy-one seconds later, several shots rang out, and it was over.

"Clear!" yelled Cho, and Lisbon was running towards the center of the park before the soundwaves had completely dissipated.

She ran towards a flash of golden, and Jane turned around, his blond curls gleaming in the moonlight. He stepped towards her and opened his arms.

" _Lisbon_ ," he breathed, crushing her to him, one hand cradling her head and the other at her lower back. She kissed his collarbone, and he lifted her off the ground as though trying to use gravity to get her closer.

Suddenly, he pulled back, and she could fuzzily make out the understanding that washed over him.

" _You can see?"_ he asked breathlessly.

"Mostly just colors and blurry shapes," she admitted. "But yes, I can see."

His hands moved to her face, and his fingers traced the outlines of her eyes. "Thank God," he said hoarsely. "Thank God."

One of his hands dropped to her stomach, hovering protectively over the new life housed within.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Are you alright? He didn't touch you, did he?"

Jane shook his head. "He hadn't—yet."

"But he was going to?"

She couldn't stop herself from looking over several feet to their left where Red John's body laid, prone. There was a gun just out of reach of his hand.

"He didn't plan to let me outlive him," said Jane simply.

Lisbon looked to their right, where another body was laid in a similar position, a gun clearly in hand. The other "cop" was also on the ground, losing a profuse amount of blood, despite Cho's attempts to staunch the bleeding. Lisbon doubted he'd make it.

She couldn't find it in herself to care. They'd all had guns trained on Jane. They could rot in hell.

Jane touched the side of her face with one finger to turn her head back to him. "Hey," he said. "It's over. It's done—I'm alright."

She lifted herself up on her toes to kiss him, tenderly, gently, tentatively, and he leaned his forehead down to rest against hers.

* * *

 _Several months later_

Lisbon took a minute to appreciate the sunrise's golden glow behind her eyelids.

Then she heard Jane softly cooing to their newborn child, and she couldn't keep her eyes shut any longer.

Jane was standing near the window of her hospital room, cradling the baby, the sun streaming down all around him. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, bending down to brush a kiss on the baby's forehead. "Just like Mommy. And Auntie Grace was right—you have your mother's eyes." A small hand reached up to grab one of Jane's fingers. "You're so perfect, baby girl." He kissed her again and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You are safe, you are loved, and you are wise."

Lisbon leaned her head back on the pillows and smiled to herself, content to stare at the two of them forever.

It was, after all, the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen.

* * *

 **AN: In case you need a reminder, Lisbon remembered the lilacs because Jane frequently took her to that park (see _Evensong_ ).**

 **And I know it's rather unlikely that someone who had lost their vision for months would suddenly regain it. However, it worked well with the story I wanted to tell, so I'm taking some creative liberties :)**

 **Also, in my original idea for this story, the baby girl is named Elizabeth Anne Lisbon Jane. But I couldn't fit it in, so I figured I'd share my headcanon anyway!**


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